3.10.2006

Where did the color go?

Here it is, in all it's painstaking "glory"... my not so colorful wholecloth quilt top.

Three weeks ago when I applied the black undercoat, I made way too much dye, so I prepared two 45" square pieces. I decided one would be left black, except for my signature,to use for the backing; and the other I would do the quilt design on. So here is a shot of my signature on the backing fabric.

THAT is what the colors should look like. Bright and happy, showing no black thru the colors. I have no idea what happened. I did everything exactly the same. The problem was in the actual application of the dye, I know that for sure, but even that isn't giving me any consistant evidence of what to do next time.

It's not so bad... it's not what I expected or hoped for, but it does have some redeeming qualities. The design is very successful, symmetrical, and even. It shows off my squeeze bottle skills. And at least all of the colors are dull, instead of having all the rust orange color be bright (and correct) and the other three colors not turning out, then it would be really bad. I think it is successful enough to continue with my plan to hand quilt it. I'll buy batting this weekend, layer it and baste it. Probably will start quilting it so I can have an example to show at the critique on Tuesday.